Grave Decisions
by Kidcomfy
Summary: This is a freaky little Halloween story...sort of a


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Third Watch, I just use them.  
  
Authors note: This is a freaky little Halloween story...sort of a "fright-fic".   
  
~Grave Decisions~  
  
She steps through the entrance, past the open, yet uninviting, wrought iron gates. Ironically they are to keep people out...like anyone would be here willingly. It is a cold windy day, and the wind makes her eyes water a bit. It's gray and overcast, and blowing a few stray raindrops sporadically here and there. A perfect parallel to her mood, as she wipes her cheek with the back of her hand.   
  
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear unconsciously, and then wraps her coat tightly around herself as she walks through the cemetery towards the mausoleums.  
  
It happened a year ago today...October 14th, on a day similar to today. But the rain, the tears, the day, all fell harder then. Most of it is just a blur, the few details she can remember, being called to the scene of an MVA, a vehicle having lost control in the wet conditions and ramming a bridge abutment. She remembers Bosco complaining about the call, having to direct traffic in the pouring rain, and admittedly, she complained too, unaware that they had been summoned there for personal reasons rather than to work it.  
  
When they pulled up, they were approached by officer Sullivan and the Lieutenant. She realized before her partner, why they had been called here. And although she was not yet sure which of the two of them knew the victim, she felt a panic for whom ever it was, the accident was that bad. She didn't even recognize the truck, it was a tangled mass of metal, you couldn't even tell it was a truck. She subconsciously went through the list of who...Fred, Bosco's mom, his brother, maybe Emily.   
  
Then she noticed the eyes. Everyone's eyes...sad, pathetic. Lieu, Sully, Carlos...all looking at her. Then she knew...it blew through her like a cold wind, chilling her right to her soul. She vaguely remembers the Lieutenant wrapping her up, restraining her, so she wouldn't go to the truck, to spare her the horror of the devastation, a sight that no doubt would scar her badly. He had Bosco ID the body, in hopes beyond hope that someone else had been driving Fred's truck. And the rest is a blur of sad. Facing the kids and Fred's parents, making the arrangements, getting through it. Getting to this point...a year later.  
  
She feels the effects of her lack of sleep, and it's a restless sleep when it does come to her. Her eyes look tired and her spirit brittle, and she struggles to open the door against the wind. She enters, and it slams shut, emphasizing the finality of the place. Walking down the long hallway, surrounded by walls of marble slabs stacked one on top of the other, and adorned sporadically with floral offerings, her foot steps sound hollow...making the same sound you'd hear if you could enter and walk through her soul. She begins to cry.  
  
Her tears fall harder as she turns down the hall containing the marble, bearing Fred's name. The final resting place of her love...her essence. She sobs loudly now, no need or desire to hold it in or be strong. She is here with Fred...the only one she could truly show herself to. And she doubts that she will ever have that with anyone again.  
  
She puts her hand against the marble block to steady herself, her fingers on the engraving, instinctively reaching to Fred for support.   
  
After a while her crying subsides. She is tired, drained...she feels empty. She steps away, backing up to the opposite wall, and slides down it to the floor. She sits there for a while, feeling the cool marble against her back, as she stares at the marker in front of her. Then the door at the far end of the hallway opens and closes. She glances over, and sees no one. It was the wind or something else unseen.   
  
She sniffs hard and wipes her eyes with her palms, then rests her arms over her knees, and softly says, "Hi Fred."  
  
She lets out a shaky sigh and continues. "I didn't bring the kids...I needed to come alone. Charlie's gotten so big. He's a little man. And he's gotten very protective of me and Em. You'd be so proud of him." Her voice cuts out, and she pauses, as she is over come with emotion. She lets out a sob, and places her hand over her eyes, then tries to get control again. "I miss you so much." she whispers.  
  
"I don't know what to do about Emily. She hates me. It's like she blames me for everything, even your...even the fact that you're gone. She makes snide comments about the fact that I work so much, but when I take time off to plan stuff with them, she doesn't want to go. She keeps pushing me away. I just can't talk to her the way you used to. I never could."   
  
She pauses, staring at the floor and reflecting on her thoughts. "I don't like the kids she's hanging with. I try not to fight with her, try to give her space. I think, 'How would Fred handle this' and then I do what I think you would do. I try to trust her, but then I find she lies about where she goes and what she does. I need help Fred...I ne...I need you." then she cries some more, feeling at least some relief, some of her frustration washing away just from having said the words.   
  
"I don't know what to do. I wish you could tell me what I'm doing wrong. How do I reach her?" She rests her head on her arms, as they cradle her knees. Then she sits there in silence, listening to the wind, strong enough to rattle this sturdy frame. Above her a skylight shows clouds blowing fiercely by and the top of a tree, bent over, also bowing to the wind.  
  
More time passes. She gathers her thoughts and finally speaks to Fred again, this time more in control of her emotions. "I know that after I was shot...that you really started to hate Bosco. You don't know him like I do. And this past year he's been an unbelievable help to me. He's really been there for me." Again she hears a door open and close somewhere inside this maze of marble. "He really helped me get through the loss, got me past a deep depression, and has been great with the kids...especially Charlie."   
  
The wind picks up force now and another door opens and slams hard, startling her. It is suddenly darker, and she looks up to the skylight, to see that it has started raining steady.   
  
"Bosco has been around so much, and I would never have made it through this past year with out him...I've been leaning on him...the way I used to lean on you." There is a distant flash of lightning, and a far off rumble of thunder. She sighs, knowing it will be a while before the rain lets up enough for her to walk home.   
  
She talks softly now, as if she feels uncomfortable speaking these thoughts to Fred. "I guess it's just a natural progression, that he wants to take it to another level. But I never considered it. It never dawned on me that he was taking the role of...well...your roll, so seriously. I've just been so lost lately, and I never saw it coming. But the other day one of the guys from work invited Bosco to a party and Bosco asked if he could bring his girlfriend. I didn't realize it at first, but he meant me. Then the other night he hugged me goodbye and tried to kiss me."  
  
A flash of lightning lit the room and a blast of thunder hit instantly, so loud that it sounded more like a cannon going off, echoing through the stone enclosure. She flinched, and looked again to the sky. The rain was falling so hard that the window above looked as though it was submerged under water.  
  
She continued talking, feeling an unexplainable need to finish. "I was shocked...I pushed him away. He looked really hurt at first, but then he said...'I understand, you need more time.' And I was so taken by surprise, that I just said nothing and let it go at that. I don't want to hurt him...he's been so good to me. But I just can't think of Bosco that way. It just isn't there...he's like a brother. I just don't know what to do. How do I tell him without insulting him and belittling all that he's done for me and the kids. I wish you could tell me how to handle this. It would almost be easier to just...go with it. The kids like him...they respond to him. And I wouldn't be alone. And I won't have to hurt him. I just don't know what to do. I don't want to do anything anymore."  
  
Another door opens. She can hear leaves blowing across the marble floor and the wind howl through the open door. She listens intently...listens as if she's waiting for a sign, and at the same time, resigning to the fact that Fred is gone, and he is no longer there to protect or guide her. She puts her head down and sheds herself of thought, having said all that was troubling her, and just rests in the peace of it.   
  
Suddenly there is a loud noise. Faith snaps her head up quickly and looks around. It is dark. She glances up to the sky light, and sees only blackness. She must have fallen asleep. Her back is aching and her legs are cramped, so she tries to stretch off the stiffness. This place feels different somehow. She strains her eyes to see in the dark, to figure out what is so uncomfortably different.  
  
How long had she slept? It dawns on her that it could be very late and she may be locked in. She illuminates her watch and it reads 5:25. It doesn't seem possible that it could be that early in the evening and this dark, yet she couldn't have been here till five thirty in the morning. Her head is pounding and she doesn't want to sort through this confusion. A panic starts to rise in her, she needs to get out of here.   
  
At first she is startled when she hears the sound of a door blow open and slam closed. But then it reassures her that the door has not been locked. Her relief is slight however, considering that it is still stormy and now dark, and she still has to walk home...through a cemetery. Then she hears footsteps coming slowly up the hall around the corner.   
  
She quickly gets to her feet, and before she leaves, she steps up to Fred's marker, and rubs her hand over it and says softly, "Good bye. I love..." The word "you." catches in her throat and she pulls her hand away from the marble quickly, as she realizes that her fingers felt more engraving than there should be.   
  
Then the footsteps stop abruptly. She turns to her left and lets out a gasp, expecting to see the silhouette of someone standing at the intersection of the two hallways. But she sees no one there. She is overcome with an eerie feeling, and she needs to leave this place. But the grave marker...something is different and she needs to see what it is. She musters up all her courage and lights the dial on her watch, which still reads 5:25 and holds it up to the marble in front of her.   
  
"Oh sweet Jesus!" Her voice is shrill, and she steps backwards quickly. There in the stone, next to Fred's name with last years date, is her name, engraved with this years date.  
  
She turns to her right and runs to the nearest door, away from the direction of the footsteps. She slams against the door latch and it doesn't give. She frantically pulls the handle up and down, and pushes against the door with her shoulder.   
  
"Oh God...let me out!" she yells, pounding the door with her body. She turns and looks back down the dark stone hallway. It's pitch black. She can see nothing beyond a few feet ahead of her. But she now has to get to another door. It takes all her will to make her legs work, shakily taking her back towards Fred's grave.  
  
She clings to the opposite wall, feeling her way slowly towards the intersecting hallways, not daring to look at Fred's marker as she passes it. Almost to the corner, she stumbles over something. She gives a startled scream, then realizes it's just a bundle of flowers. She slides them away with her foot and they make a dry papery sound. The flowers are dead. She looks to another bouquet nearby and all the flowers are wilted over.  
  
Fear tingles through her body, causing her to tremble. She stands against the corner, looking down each dark corridor. The door at the end of the corridor in front of her and the corridor to her right are the closest, but the one to her left is the main entrance. It is also the door she heard open to the footsteps. Her fear escapes from her in sobs now, as she tries to think against the panic and confusion that has seized her.   
  
She decides to go to the main door, it should be...it had better be, open. She feels her way along the wall, her hands following the contour of each marble marker, across the engraving, naming off each resident in this stone temple. She stares intently at the door, hoping it will blow open of it's own accord, as it has done so many times...until now.  
  
Her hand, still following each marker, is cold now from touching the marble. She unconsciously counts each slab she passes over, seven, eight, then nothing. Suddenly there is no wall, but an open grave, and her hand drops into the dark hole, and is wrapped gauze-like in webs. The sensation sends her into an uncontrolled frenzy. She screams and draws away from the opening...that was not there earlier in the evening...she is sure of that. She runs towards the exit, half sobbing, half screaming, and throws her weight against the door. And it does not open. It is locked as well.  
  
She is finally overwhelmed. She slides down to the floor, trembling, eyes wide with fear, and curls up against the door. The place is silent now, no wind, no noise, just the sound of her quickened breathing, and her heart beating rapidly. Time passes. She is not sure of how much. Reality has slipped away. Her watch still reads 5:25 and it dawns on her what that time represents...the moment in which Fred's accident occurred. The minute his life had ended.   
  
Then, from the darkness beyond, a familiar voice calls her name. It doesn't register to her at first. She sits there in shock, frozen with fear.  
  
"Faith...where are you? Are you here?"  
  
Bosco. She hears Bosco's voice. She reaches up frantically, grabbing the door handle, and clumsily pulls herself up. It takes a moment for her to find her voice.  
  
"Bosco, I'm here! Bosco...help me." She yells.   
  
"Faith...where are you?" His voice is calm and soothing in the cold echo of this stone crypt.   
  
She heads back towards Fred's grave, figuring that is where he would look for her. She walks against the wall opposite the open grave, and keeps an eye on the dark opening as she passes it.   
  
"Bosco?" She calls shakily.  
  
"I'm here Faith." His voice is so close it frightens her. She turns, searching the darkness for his figure, but can not see him. "Faith, I'm right here." He says again.  
  
Then she sees him. His face pale, his eyes dark, his hand motioning for her to come, from his crouched position inside the open grave.   
  
She slams herself back against the wall and shrieks at him. "What are you doing? Get out of there."  
  
He smiles at her, giving her a playful smirk. "C'mon...don't be scared. Come to me."  
  
"No!" she screams. "Stop it. You're scaring me. Get out of there." She starts crying uncontrollably.  
  
"It's ok...I'll get you." Then he starts to climb out of the hole. His skin is so white that it is almost aglow in the darkness.   
  
"Oh God!...Please." She starts to run. She heads towards the intersection, but she feels like she isn't running fast enough, and she doesn't dare look back to see how close Bosco is. She has to decide which of the two remaining doors she should try, but instinctively she finds herself heading back down the same corridor towards Fred's grave.   
  
She runs up to it and cries mournfully, "Fred...please...stop this. Help me." She looks towards the intersection, and now she can see the dark silhouette of Bosco, his eyes standing out black against his white complexion, walking slowly towards her.   
  
She throws herself against the cold stone, slapping it with her palms. She feels the rough etching of her own name under her right hand. She scratches at it with her nails, and feels it scratch away. She glances back towards Bosco, still approaching, and then frantically starts scratching at her name on the wall...scratching until it all comes off. Then suddenly the marble slab starts to tremble under her hands. She feels it moving...shifting.   
  
She is crying still. She wraps her arms around herself and backs up to the wall behind her, and slides down it, totally taken by fear. She wraps her arms around her legs and buries her head in them. Suddenly there is a loud sound, like a heavy stone slab falling to the ground.   
  
She jumps from the sound, looks up and yells, "No!"  
  
And it is light out.   
  
She is breathing heavy and still trembling as she looks around, confused. She fell asleep. It was all a bad dream. She looks at the etching on Fred's stone, and it reads Fred's name alone. She glances back and forth down the corridors, and quickly gets to her feet. She runs to the closest door, and it pushes open. She steps out into the wind, and lets the rain fall on her...and it feels good. Taking one last look back inside, she heads for home.  
  
And as she walks, she reflects on what it all meant. She was there looking for a sign from Fred. And whether it was a message from Fred or her own subconscious telling her, she knows what she must do.  
  
She needs to stop leaning on Fred and more importantly, stop leaning on Bosco, or she will lose herself. It is been a year since Fred died, and it's as if she died with him. She has the power to make it better, but she has to snap out of it and do something...do what she needs to do. Make her own decisions, and live her life again.   
  
  
  
*** The End ***  
  
Happy Halloween. 


End file.
